Setting Sale: Hosting A Moving Sale

Apparently gathering over 100 things to get rid of didn’t take as long as we thought (see the full list of purged items here), so we got all crazy and decided to host a last-minute moving sale this past Saturday (just to get rid of stuff while we still had that no nonsense iron will- you know, before we caved and decided to keep a few things around). We took about two weeks to plan our last yard sale, so making the decision to hold this one just two days out was a bit nerve-wracking, but the days aren’t getting any warmer, so we figured why waste time? Plus, hosting a yard sale isn’t rocket science – especially once you’ve gathered all of your “merchandise” and mentally decided to pull the trigger. Plus with the weather channel calling for sunny skies and 69 degree weather we figured it was a sign.

So we placed a free ad on Craigslist and drew up some neon-tacular directional posters to hang around the neighborhood. You can read more tips for actually hosting a sale here in this post of yore.

Despite our fears that no one goes yard-sale-ing in mid-November, the sale was GREAT. We had lots of steady traffic, Clara napped through the first two hours of the sale (when we were busiest), and we made over $300. Three hundred beans are great, but the best part of the sale is that we got rid of about 85% of our stuff. And that’s stuff we now don’t have to pack up and move. Which means more energy for unpacking, painting, and all that much more fun stuff (yes, that stuff is fun to us- we’re weird).

Here’s what our driveaway looked like towards the beginning of the sale (I didn’t snap a true “before” shot because early bird shoppers kept us too busy for a while).

Here’s all that was left by the end of the sale. And every item made its way to be donated within an hour or so that afternoon (we had a strict nothing-goes-back-into-the-house policy).

We were also reminded that hosting a yard sale can be quite entertaining. Here are a few highlights:

The only shoes Sherry sold were to an 11-year-old girl. Yep, apparently Sherry has pre-teen feet (size 5.5 for the most part).

A pack of neighborhood kids showed up on their bikes towards the end of the sale and bought a random assortment of knick-knacks, half of which we’re not sure they knew what to do with (for instance, they were convinced a glass spoon rest was a shoehorn).

We met the new neighbors who bought the “bed-and-breakfast” house that we’ve always admired (shown here). But at least now our patio furniture will get to live there.

We got to chat with two blog readers who were pleasantly surprised about stumbling upon our moving sale (we don’t share our address for obvious reasons, which is why we didn’t post about the sale beforehand).

Not knowing our names but recognizing us from our nightly walks, one neighbor called us “the baby-chihuahua family” – which we wish would stick. Gotta love a good neighborhood nickname.

We learned from one customer about the in Midlothian, where we later exchanged our unsold books for a credit… that we immediately used to buy two new books for Clara. New obsession? Check.

The sale eventually turned into an impromptu neighborhood party where we got to catch up on the latest gossip from everyone around the block (thanks to the sunny skies and mild temps, it ended up being such a nice day).

Just like last time, a random dog-on-the-loose came to visit. Luckily this one was a bit less rambunctious than the one from our past sale (who ended up taking a swim in the small pond that we once had in the backyard).

Ok, so that’s the tale our little moving sale. Feels good to have that stuff out of our lives (and to have a bit more money in our pockets). It’ll probably be a while until we need to host another yard sale, but feel free to drop some tips for others (or fun stories from your own yard sale-ing experience). Anyone else always get visited by a random pooch? Or have freakishly small feet that make selling shoes to adults a challenge?

Comments

That’s awesome that you sold so much stuff! I always have boxes and boxes of stuff to cart to donation centers afterward.

My only sure-fire tip for garage sales? Price high. People in my area always try to talk you down. In fact, once I had a girl not want to pay me a dollar for something and walked away when I wouldn’t go down to 75 cents. She came back minutes later and bought the item. What’s up with those people? Anyway, it’s very easy to go down in price, so I always mark high, because often I get the higher price anyway.

We figure it’ll go towards a new bed (which we desperately need since we conveyed our current one since it fits into the bedroom built-ins so well) along with some paint for the new house. Fun, fun, fun.

Yeah, we loved that stuff but had no place for it in the new house (the table set was from Target and the lounge chairs were from Walmart by the way). So we figured making some loot and selling it before the move was the way to go!

Tip: A couple of years ago, we had a neighborhood-wide garage sale. One girl put around flyers to the mailboxes, and said that she would pay to take out an ad in the paper, provided 10 or more houses signed up for the sale. That was great for us… free advertising. Plus, I think brought more people in, knowing they didn’t have to travel far to look at another family’s stuff.
Funny Story: At that same garage sale, which happened in early February, two men came around in an old pick-up truck early in the morning. They picked up a glass vase, and other girly items. As they were leaving, one man told the other “My wife’s gonna love this for Valentine’s Day”. LOL!

We loved those lounge chairs back in our married-without-children days, but there’s no place for them at the new house- and you know we’re all about making a house work for us and not hoarding things that don’t make sense anymore. Plus being parents of a six month old, we haven’t used them since bringing Clara home, which was another sign they weren’t worth moving!

I LOVE getting rid of stuff! And your yard-sale-turned-block-party sounds so fun. However, I have not had very financially successful yard sales for some reason–I could probably use your tips!

An organization I worked for once did a yearly rummage sale but all prices were open ended–the buyer got to decide. Apparently it was quite successful, because people would always over-estimate what something was worth, or decide to be generous because they felt like they were getting a good deal.

It was a Christmas quilt from Coldwater Creek (it was a gift from a relative a while back, but we figured since it was sitting in a storage box for years it was time to give it to someone who would take it out and enjoy it!).

Richmond sounds like such a lovely place to live. I’m not surprised you guys did well at your yard sale–you have fantastic taste. I bet your neighbors were beyond stoked to score your cool stuff for a bargain.

WTG on pulling off such a lucrative last-minute moving sale! I was hoping to have a yard sale to declutter and make a few $$$, but I couldn’t pull it off and now it’s getting too cold :o( However, I’m going to use the upcoming cold winter weekends to REALLY declutter (yes, it will take me all winter!) and get things organized for a super-sized early spring yard sale.

So sorry! For obvious reasons we don’t share our address on the blog, which is why we didn’t post about the sale beforehand. If we had sold things on ebay or consigned things at a local shop we definitely would have shared that info though!

hey guys, i was looking at the photo of what your yard sale looked when it ended and i couldnt help but notice the photograph of the couple on the train. i remember seeing it somewhere i think in a book and i will really love to have it. see i live in new york and the subway is basically how i get around and that is an awesome photo. so can i have it please? how much is it? i would really love it. i hope you guys havent donated it yet?

Can’t believe such southside-savvy people such as you hadn’t learned of the Book Exchange! LOVE that store–way back when it was a mere 1/3 of the size it is now I became a regular. Every time I move I take a ton of books over, I know I have a few hundred dollars credit, and on rainy days I like to go over and have a spending spree!!!!!

Congrats on making $300, that is so great. Oh, and I have “freakishly small feet”, 5 to 5.5, but my babysitter, who is in her 20s has even smaller feet, 4.5. She has to buy all her shoes in the kids department, luckily shoes for young girls are becoming more hip and stylish!!!

I once sold my (women’s) shoes to a 12 year old boy. My hubby was trying to sell like-new slippers for 75 cents and when an old man tried to barter down to 25 cents, my hubby promptly replied, “Absolutely not!” Ahh yard sales, they bring out an interested side to everyone. Congrats on your success!

I feel your pain about having small feet, I wear a size 5 and can NEVER find shoes that fit. Any places you’ve found that sell lower than a 6? And is it true that your feet grow during pregnancy?
Thanks!

I am glad you sale was so successful. I had one once and sadly we had a bunch of stuff that was stolen. We were not sad that we missed out on the $$ since it would have gone to Goodwill, we were sad that times have gotten so had that someone would have to steal at a garage sale. I hope that didnt bring your day down.

My (new) husband and I had our first garage sale this summer and he was convinced that we would make maybe $50. After we netted $400, he saw the value in it. The best tip and it’s one you did is that nothing goes back in the house – for even a minute.

Glad you had such a great sale! We made about $500 at our last sale and didn’t take a thing back in the house either. We actually passed out little fliers with each purchase that said everything was free for the taking after 2pm, so we didn’t even have to run anything to Goodwill either. The yard sale cleaned up after itself!

I think one of the reasons you were so successful is that you routinely clear out the clutter rather than holding onto it for years and finally parting with it when it’s outdated. Noone wants to buy someone else’s outdated junk!

My husband and I will move in 6 months or so. Inspired by you two, last night I set aside five books to clear out. There are many more items to clear out, but it’s a start!

Speaking of Midlothian, don’t forget you’ll need a “dental home” for Clara in 6 months. Might I suggest a great practice, Children’s Dentistry of Virginia. You could go to the Book Exchange, Garden Ridge and the zoo on the same day! The dentists bought back trick-or-treat candy from the children the day after Halloween and then sent the collected candy to our troops overseas. See the story in The Midlothian Exchange. ?

Never went on the market. It was a private sale. So sad. But it was for the best. We actually finally got to see the inside, and it wasn’t the right layout for our family anyway. Mystery solved though. I always wanted to get inside that house! Now I have. I can die a happy woman.

My best garage sale story:
My dad tried to sell his bowling ball at our annual village-wide garage sale every year. It was an ugly orange ball that probably weighed about 16 lbs with his name inscribed on it: Dennis. Every year that ball sat there. Finally after about 7 or 8 years of that poor lonely ball sitting in our garage, a little boy came to our sale. He saw the ball and got very excited. He HAD to have that ball. His dad tried to convince him that he didn’t need it, but to no avail. “Daddy, my NAME is even on it!” That’s right, a little Dennis walked in. Needless to say, dad had to cart that ball home with him that day. :)

I LOVE the Book Exchange in Midlothian! My family and I have been loyal customers there for 20+ years. The owner, Maude, even “hired” me to stock shelves once so I could get a patch for Girl Scouts (I’m pretty sure I spent more time reading Baby Sitters Club books than stocking shelves).

Here’s a tip: Make sure you tuck away those orange credit bookmarks in a safe place. I’m constantly misplacing mine! Although it is kinda fun to “find” one in a bag I haven’t used in a while and have money to spend on new books…

Hehe we always get those random neighborhood kids on bikes too! They come and buy all the weird stuff. They’re not sure what it’s for, or what they will use it for, but the one thing I’m sure of is, it probably ended up in their mom’s next garage sale! We had TWO garage sales this year. My grandma moved out of her house and my mom moved to our town. What a lot of stuff! We have a one-way clause too! Whatever you brought doesn’t get to go home with you! (that doesn’t seem to stop us from ‘shopping’ through each other’s stuff though!)

Congratulations on a successful moving sale, baby/chihuahua family! You neighborhood sounds so friendly!

We have our own large pooch that wanders our neighborhood all the time. I was visiting my neighbor’s house one day, and he came right into her kitchen and helped himself to some dog food from her dog’s bowl. She explained the dog belonged to other neighbors (who don’t care for us much after we politely turned down signing a political petition they were going door to door with). We’ve seen the dog dig up other neighbor’s flowers, and he very often leaves, well, “leavings” in our yard. He also wanders in the street, and I’ve seen a few speeding teenagers narrowly miss hitting him at a sharp bend in our road. I feel compelled to say something to the neighbors, but they’ve made it pretty clear that if we don’t agree with their political views, we aren’t friends. What would you do?

Can I just geek out for a second and say how excited I am about this week’s babycenter post? My husband and I just registered for the SAME wet bags last week, and (I don’t know why but) I am SO excited about finding those bags! It’s great to hear they are working for other people!

Wow, I’m a total nerd, getting excited over where I store my baby’s diapers.

So your new home doesn’t have a patio area? Seems like y’all just bought stuff and are selling it already (patio chairs, towels from the master remodel) which I’d have a hard time doing since you just shelled out the cash and likely didn’t make anywhere near what you just spent on them. But, if there’s no room, there’s no room! :)

We’re definitely getting a lot more of what we need with the new house – and we’re all about making an upgrade for our family! While we don’t have a large patio area there (we have a smaller one) we actually used our current patio zero times since Clara came along. Let’s just say there’s no time to lounge around and work on the ol’ tan with a bambino – and we think once she’s mobile there will be even less time for that. So while we traded in some things that we used to love (like the patio), we got a great deal on a new house with a lot more of the things that we’ll use all the time!

Do you have a by-law about dogs on the loose in your town/city Jyl? Just call them and complain. It’s anonymous(well as in your neighbor won’t know it was you) and after a few tickets I’m sure the dog will be ‘encouraged’ to stay home!

I guess I’m confused… why are you selling things like your patio chairs? Won’t you just have to buy new ones for your next house? Were the chairs not good enough? They look to be in good condition and not outdated for style.

(In fact the image of your patio lounge chairs with bottles of Izze –if I remember correctly– made it into my inspiration folder, so I’m shocked you’d want to get rid of them!)